HIS NEIGHBOR WOULDN’T STOP REPORTING THE SOUND OF A GIRL CRYING INSIDE HIS HOUSE—THEN HE HID BENEATH HIS DAUGHTER’S BED AND HEARD HER PLEAD FOR SOMEONE TO SPARE HER

He took a smaller foreman job with less overtime. Money got tight. The apartment was cramped. His truck needed repairs he postponed. But he was home for dinner. He drove Lucia to therapy. He learned the names of her teachers. He sat in the parking lot after school the first week at her new campus because she asked him to.

One afternoon, Lucia got into the truck and said, “You can stop waiting outside. It makes me look weird.”

Thomas smiled. “Weird how?”

“Like I have a bodyguard.”